Chained Souls
The ''Chained Souls ''is a slave ship orignating from the 38th millennium but operating up until the present in the Merchant Fleet arm of the Imperial Fleet and is under the command of House Hawkins as part of their Hereditary Free Charter. Like many ships of the Merchant Fleet it is a large but slow ship specialising in moving one kind of cargo across the vast depths of the void by the use of warp- drive. History All empires like buildings are built of something, the Imperium's bricks and mortar are bones and blood. The Emperor's fuel is the sweat of a trillion nameless souls toiling over a hundred thousand light years for the survival of the Mankind. From the penal legions convicts who face certain death in the name of the Emperor and for the chance of redemption. The gun crews and menials on the Imperial navy who defend space lanes, those condemned to be turned to servitors in service of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the slave settlers of the Adeptus Colonizus. The Imperium's ability to move slaves from one location to another is just as important as the warriors of the Adeptus Astartes. Johnnar Hawkins To know the history of the Chained Souls one must know the history of House Hawkins. In the 38th millennium, the Hawkins family were a highborn family of middling rank on some civilised world in Segentum Tempestus which by now House Hawkins don't even remember the name of but the progenitor of the House, Johnnar Hawkins is a name well remembered by this dynasty. Johnnar received a commission from the Planetary Governor of his home world and entered the Imperial Navy as a a midshipman. Going through a series of promotions over the decades and eventually century from midshipman to admiral due to what the family claims to be due to immense skill and ability more likely would have been simple luck in outliving his superior officer. Admiral Hawkins was appointed to the Forsarr sector where he finally excelled himself during fighting against the Orks of Octavius where he led a punitive strike against a growing Ork fleet which could have progressed to a Waaagh but Admiral Hawkins led his fleet into the Octavius system and raided the planet heavily damaging the growing Ork fleet. The attack was known as the Singeing of Warboss Kranarg's beard. With his victory over the Orks, Admiral Hawkins was ordered by the Lord High Admiral of Segmentum Tempestus go to Bakka for reassignment. Upon his arrival he was presented with a hereditary free charter for the ''Chained Souls. '' Construction Construction of the ''Chained Souls ''began in 726 M38 and took 4 years in the orbital shipyard orbiting high above Bakka inside of scaffolding leaving the work open to raw vacuum. The vacuum caused several dozen casualties to the workforce. It began with the laying of three keels from the centre to the stern and bow for the inner hull in an equilateral triangle, 3 kilometres in length and each of the keels being 400m apart. Welded together they formed most of the ships length. This took 2 months as each piece had to be welded to the adjoining one at a time although other construction work continued concurrently. They were held in place inside of the scaffolding by tractor beams. While this occurred elsewhere in the ship yard a series of rectangular plates 400m in length and some 100m were being created from an aluminium lithium alloy and then moved to the construction site, while the keel was still being assembled further down the line where they were laid between 2 of the keels and attached to them. Each plate then had four girders attached to it 50 metres away from the edges holding it connected to other plates but going some 80 metres out of the inner hull. This formed the beginnings of the ship and even as the laying of the keel was finished work still continued on building the inner hull, as the inner hull was built the outer hull was laid behind made from an alloy of Ti 6Al-4V with plates in a similar manner. Once the hull had been built and the area was pressurised work began on internal layout with the laying out of the decks first from point to it's opposing side.To avoid having to move equipment like the warp core and gellar field into the centre of the ship once the decks were in place much of the outfitting work was done as the decks were added on top. At the rear third of the ship work on construction of plasma drives had begun while at the front sensors and attack hangars were laid out. The back of the sip rounded out to accommodate the plasma drive while the front had a nose out forwards to give sensors a better view. 2 years after it began the ship was towed out of the busy shipyards to allow new work to begin on other ships and while work continued on the ship it did so in orbit held in place by tugs instead of scaffolding. After 4 years the ship moved out of orbit under it's own power and command was assumed by it's new charter captain. Design The ship is designed in the same fashion as most Imperial ships but lacks the curves being a triangular prism with a cone on the front containing several holes in it for an attack hangar and a frustum expanding out the rear with plasma drive exhaust channels while sensor pods and docking bays little the length of the ship. Category:Imperium Category:Starships